PROVO -- A former KSL Chopper Five pilot was at the controls on the Life Flight helicopter that rescued two men in Wasatch County Tuesday.

Pilot Dan Brown says his crew got the call about 5:00 Tuesday evening to go help with the search. They got a briefing at the command center, and within about seven minutes of being in the air the men were located.

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Missing snowmobilers found alive

Two snowmobilers missing in the mountains of Wasatch County since Sunday were found alive early Tuesday night.

"Out to our 3 o'clock low, there was snowmobiles and one fellow waving," Brown said. "(We) made the turn back around to the right, and there was the second fellow on another ridge waving at us."

"So we found both of them," he continued. "They were just in a clump of pine trees and aspen trees, and had both snowmobiles right there, had a snow cave, and had built a fire."

The Life Flight crew returned to their base at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center after helping to rescue the Brock Besner and Craig Dallessandro.

The crew says the snowmobilers had also stomped out a big S-O-S in the snow, as they waited for help. Brown said they were found in an area that had not yet been searched from the air.

For the Life Flight team, it was a great ending to a long day at work.

"It feels good to have a nice outcome," said Life Flight paramedic Wyatt Jones. "I mean, we all went into this thinking that it was going to be grim after this long; and it was kind of exciting to see them there alive and well."

"I've probably been on hundreds of search and rescues; and to go out there, to go into a certain area and start searching, within two to three minutes of getting in to the search area we spot them -- that's amazing," Brown said.

Brown and Jones both say they will sleep good tonight knowing the men they helped rescue are safe and warm.

E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com

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